The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

At the top of Eld Mountain, the witch Sybel and her collection of magical animals live all but forgotten by men of the kingdoms below. Until one night a stranger arrives at her doorstep on the dying winds of war with something that will change Sybel’s peaceful existence forever.

Patricia McKillip, author of the acclaimed Riddlemaster trilogy, first penned The Forgotten Beasts of Eld in the 1970s, and this re-release makes the book available for the first time in e-book format. It is no less magical reading it now than when I first encountered it. McKillip’s prose is spot-on, perfected by characters filled with raw emotions and real motivations. Sybel’s quest for vengeance may cost her everything as she travels to places where even love fears to tread. This novel, like so many of McKillip’s stories, reads like a waking dream, one readers will want to escape into again and again. This is one of those books that can’t come with enough high recommendation. That being said, as a caveat, it is one of her very earliest works and may feel more roughly told to some readers.